Locus Poll: Philip José Farmer's Venus on the Half-Shell and Others

Wold Newton expert Christopher Paul Carey , the editor of the collection Venus on the Half-Shell and Others (with plenty of Wold-Newtony goodness by Philip José Farmer , including the classic Sherlock Holmes/Tarzan crossover novel, The Adventure of the Peerless Peer), reminds us that the 2009 Locus Poll and Survey is now open:

"Rias Nuninga of the Philip José Farmer International Bibliography kindly points out that Venus on the Half-Shell and Others, Philip José Farmer's collection of fictional-author stories which I edited for Subterranean Press, is eligible to be written in under the category of Best Single-Author Collection on the 2009 Locus Poll and Survey. The Locus Poll closes on April 15, 2009. Here's the description of Venus from the publisher's Web site if you haven't yet read it but think you might like to pick up this fun, tongue-in-cheek book:

Venus on the Half-Shell and Others collects for the first time the best of the best from Philip José Farmer's scintillating "fictional-author period."

In the mid-1970s a fever-pitched furor was created when an actual novel purported to be by Kilgore Trout -- the sadsack science fiction writer who appears as a character in the works of Kurt Vonnegut -- materialized on the bookracks, complete with a mysterious back cover photo of the author looking like a bearded vagabond sage. Debate raged as to who had truly written Venus on the Half-Shell. Was it Vonnegut himself, or perhaps Theodore Sturgeon, rumored to have been the inspiration for Trout? Or did Kilgore Trout really exist? Just as one respected newspaper published an article "proving" that Vonnegut had written the book, the Hugo Award-winning science fiction author Philip José Farmer announced he was the true author.

The controversial Kilgore Trout episode was neither the first nor the last time Farmer would impishly slip out of his own skin and assume the persona of another author. In Venus on the Half-Shell and Others, Philip José Farmer transforms himself into fictional personalities as compelling as they are diverse: Cordwainer Bird, Paul Chapin, Rod Keen, Harry "Bunny" Manders, Leo Queequeg Tincrowdor, John H. Watson, M.D. and even the real-life author William S. Burroughs (writing his own version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Jungle Lord!). Also included is the original version of Farmer's classic Sherlock Holmes/Lord Greystoke pastiche The Adventure of the Peerless Peer, back in print for the first time in over thirty years.

A unique collection, Venus on the Half-Shell and Others showcases the grand imagination of one of science fiction's most resourceful and creative minds."

If you enjoyed Venus, Peerless Peer, etc., and if you're so inclined, please take some time 0ut to support Phil Farmer, Chris Carey, and this fantastic collection!